I thought I knew about most of Miles' discography, but after reading about the out-of-place vocal number at the end of Sorceror, I realised that Miles had done the number 'Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern)' on the Columbia album Jingle Bell Jazz:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Jazz

That was the session where he first worked with Wayne Shorter, so pretty significant in the long run. And now I know more about the session that originated Nothing Like You (I always knew that was a very odd inclusion on Sorceror, but had never looked at how it came to exist in the first place).

I made a YouTube playlist of all of the live video of Miles I could find on YouTube - TV appearances, concert films and interviews. I have done my best to put them in rough chronological order and avoid duplications.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlmdFdt1ZZtk_D3GZjeWIGQG_hKNXh--G

Feel free to point out issues / suggest additions. There's a lot of good stuff there, from Miles and Gil through the Second Great Quintet to Brew, jungle funk and 80s fusion.

Hail the Prince of Darkness!

Miles Davis - Blues for Pablo.00.avi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vybmAk-M1s

Miles Davis - New Rhumba.00.avi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN2nGX03CXc

(they are linked in order)

(You might have seen them before, I just personally had a hard time finding all the recordings from the TV special)

Miles Davis & Gill Evans Orchestra - The Duke (Live, 1959) (HQ)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL3A-o2D7pU&list=RDcL3A-o2D7pU&start_radio=1

Most upvoted will be added into the playlist Spotify playlist

Besides Pete Cosey, are there any other Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) members who toured or recorded with Miles? Is there anything on the record for what Miles thought of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Muhal Richard Abrams, or any other AACM musicians/groups? Is there information out there regarding how Pete Cosey ended up with Miles?

I’ve been reading up on the AACM a lot lately, and there’s plenty of established admiration among members for Miles’ music, of course, but I’m curious if Miles had anything to say on the topic.

I included this picture of The Muhal Richard Abrams Big Band, which I thought might be of interest — You can spot Pete Cosey on the right hand side of the photo. This was taken in 1975, so contemporary with his time playing with Miles.

The 1972 live shows are especially far out and "psychedelic" to use a perhaps overused term. I always wished there were more recordings of the nonet. Cedric Dawson's playing was especially otherworldly. Anyone know of any super rare shows from the 1972 Nonet besides all the ones listed by Heat Warps (that's probably all of them but you never know)? What does everyone else think of this period in particular?

By the time the 1973 shows roll around the sound was totally different. Not for the worse necessarily, but I wish Miles had explored the direction he was going in in 72 a bit further. I think I'm the minority on this. I appreciate the fact that the music was sort of focused on building textures over rhythms more so than solos. It's an interesting contrast from most other music miles created throughout his career even during the electric period.

Edited because I confused Cedric Dawson's playing for that of Liston smith.

From the marathon quintet sessions for Prestige in order to fulfill the contract and jump ship to Columbia, to Miles having to play piano on a track on Milestones because he pissed of Red Garland, to a visiting Herbie Hancock dropping his groceries to rush and play an impromptu organ solo on Miles's Jack Johnson record. Seems like there's always some cool story connected to most of Miles's albums. What are some of your favorite stories connected to a Miles album?

Miles Davis ended up playing in very empty clubs in 1967 and had to turn to "jazz-rock" to support himself. But why didn't the same happen with Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, Bill Evans and others? Was it the location? Then why didn't he change it like the others or something?

When I got this album on CD, I remember reading that the original recording, for whatever reason, was a half-step lower in key but was "fixed" for the CD release. I would love to own it on vinyl, as now that's the only way I consume physical media. I know that older versions resell for a pretty penny if you can find one, but I am just curious if the modem release on vinyl preserves the original error or if it's the remastered version.

Imagine if Miles and Jimi would've made it into the studio together like they planned to...

Imagine if Miles would've accepted Duke Ellington's invite to join his orchestra...

What if Miles would've lived long enough to finish his Doo-Bop album the way he originally conceived- which would've included collaborations with Prince...

According to Q-Tip, Quincy Jones introduced him on the Miles at Miles's final birthday party. They had one phone conversation afterwards about Tip potentially working on what became Doo-Bop. Imagine if that collab came to fruition...

Also, that same summer, Miles had Chuck D and Flavor Flav at his house trying to figure out how they could work together. Imagine if they made it onto Doo-Bop, complete with Bomb Squad production...

Imagine if Miles would've played on Laura Nyro's New York Tendaberry album (there are photos of him at the session smiling with Laura, but he didn't play because reportedly he couldn't hear any room for his horn in the music).

Has anyone seen or heard a complete recording of the Dark Magus concert?

I think the second to last track begins in the middle of what sounds like a killer Pete Cosey solo.

And I'm not sure but I don't think Reggie Lucas has a solo on there. Maybe it was edited out because it seems like at that point he was getting one or two extended solos, like on Agharta and Panhaea

What are some of your favorite acoust pre-fusion Miles Davis albums? Seems nowadays most Miles discussions tend to focus on his electric years (which I LOVE btw). But as a fan of of the entirety of his career I thought I'd encourage a discussion on his acoustic works. Some of my favs: Miles Ahead, Kind Of Blue, Seven Steps To Heaven, My Funny Valentine: Live In Concert, Miles Smiles, Nefertiti.

Any fans of 80's Miles on here? We've now living in the days where his once controversial 1969-1975 output is now for the most part regularly praised (and rightfully so). But the music Miles made during his final period of 1981-1991 still seems to split people down the middle. I admit, it's not my favorite Miles Davis era - but I do have my favorites from that period and there are moments where for my money Miles is playing some of the most beautiful and soul touching trumpet of his career.

My favorite albums of his from those years are We Want Miles, Star People, Decoy, and Tutu. I also love "Fat Time" and "Shout" from The Man With The Horn, "Ms. Morrisine" from You're Under Arrest, "Blue" from Aura, and a few songs from Amandla and Doo-Bop.

I also love the 1985 and 1988 sets on the 20 disc Miles at Montreux box set. And the Live Around The World album featuring various live performances his 1988-1991 lineups is full of highlights as well.

When I was about 11 years old, my family took a cross-country airplane trip to visit my maternal grandparents. On that trip I discovered the music of Mr. Davis (and Artie Shaw as well) via the onboard recorded music selections provided by a set of pneumatic headphones.

I recently rediscovered Mr. Davis work via Apple Music, and the memory returned to me.

I just wanted to share this with the world.

Thank you for reading.

Miles Davis at Sao Paulo (1974) Pete Cosey, Dominique Gaumont or Reggie Lucas?

Hey there,

I'm gonna on road trip tomorrow and need some miles recommendations; Can you recommend me something?

I really like: In a Silent Way and Dark Magus.

I found that Filles De Kilimanjaro is made in the same year as In a Silent Way, is there any difference between records?

Thanks in advance!